NBC Head Says Its Stars Will Be on Both NBC and Peacock

NBC is looking at its upcoming streaming service Peacock as a serious investment into its future. At the Television Critics Association’s 2020 winter tour NBC Entertainment Chairman Paul Telegdy took the stage to answer questions about Peacock. Though he didn’t go into many specifics, Telegdy made it clear that NBC will be just as creatively invested in the streaming service as it is in its network content.

Last year it was announced that Peacock would launch sometime in April of 2020. Though its official launch date is still unknown more information is expected to be revealed on NBC’s investor day on January 16. The streaming service will launch with more than 15,000 hours of programming, including a new comedy from The Good Place’s creator Mike Schur and Sam Esmail’s Battlestar Galactica reboot.

“They’ve got a launch next Thursday that I don’t want to reveal too much about,” NBC Chairman Paul Telegdy said. “Of course we’ve been working a bunch with them. It’s called Peacock for a reason, which I think people see our logo and understand.”

Though the NBC head refused to go into specifics about Peacock’s programming, he highlighted how integral the streaming platform will be to NBC moving forward. “It’s a strong brand, a sub-brand, an extension of our brand as we’re going into the future,” Telegdy explained. “Those conversations don’t just involve programming. There are people who talk about branding, talk about marketing, have big ideas about how to bring this to life to American consumers.”

Those conversations also extended to series creators, producers, and NBC’s talent. “So, as I’ve announced Jimmy Fallon’s new show for NBC, the NBC family will be making contributions to originals on Peacock. I very much see it as the future of our digital distribution for a lot of what we do here,” Telegdy said. “We’re talking on every level. And our talent will be seen on both NBC and Peacock — the stars from our cable division, the creative kind of ecosystem of talent and shows we love that live between our linear distribution and our digital distribution.”